Identifier: navalbattlesanci00ship (find matches)
Title: Naval battles, ancient and modern
Year: 1883 (1880s)
Authors: Shippen, Edward, 1826-1911
Subjects: Naval battles
Publisher: Philadelphia (etc.) J.C. McCurdy & co.
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress
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XI, of France, in the Crusade of 12 jo,took possession of the site of the ancient city, only to giveup his last breath there, and add another to the manylegends of the spot. The Spaniards afterwards con-quered Tunis and held it for a time; and, in our own day,the French have again repossessed themselves of thecountry, and may retain it long after the events of ourtime have passed into history. As soon as Rome rose to assured power, and beganher course of conquest, trouble with the powerful Stateof Carthage ensued. Their clashing interests soon in-volved them in war, and Sicily and the Sicilian waters,being necessary to both, soon became their battle ground.The Carthaginians had obtained a footing in Sicily, byassisting Roman renegades and freebooters of all nationswho had taken refuge there. The Romans therefore passeda decree directing the Consul, Appius Claudius, to crossover to Messina and expel the Carthaginians who, fromthat strong point, controlled the passage of the great thor-
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ROMANS AND CARTHAGINIANS. 37 ougfhfare, the strait of the same name. Thus commencedthe first Punic war. The Romans were almost uniformlysuccessful upon land, but the Carthaginians, derivingnautical skill from their Phenician ancestors, overawed,with their fleet, the whole coast of Sicily, and even madefrequent and destructive descents upon the Italian shoresthemselves. The Romans at this time had no ships of war; but theybegan the construction of a fleet, to cope with theirenemy, then the undisputed mistress of the seas. Just at this time a Carthaginian ship of large size wasstranded upon the Italian shores, and served as a modelfor the Romans, who, with characteristic energy, in ashort time put afloat a hundred quinqueremes and twentytriremes. No particular description of these vessels isnecessary, as they were the same in general plan asthose already spoken of as in use among the Egyptians,Phenlcians, and Greeks, for centuries. Able seamenwere obtained from neighboring tributary mar
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